As the Biden administration still refuses to close the southern border to dangerous drug traffickers, Florida Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott have called on federal public health agencies not to ignore the risk the fentanyl crisis poses to older Americans.
The Republican lawmakers highlighted this concern in a recent letter to Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Anne Milgram.
The impetus for the letter — which was also signed by GOP Sens. Mike Braun of Indiana, J.D. Vance of Ohio, and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska — was a report released by Braun in December.
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“While fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans under 50, older Americans are increasingly confronting surging overdose rates as well,” Braun wrote.
“Among Americans 65 and older, overdose deaths quadrupled across the last two decades, and there’s increasing evidence that synthetic drugs like fentanyl are adding to these fatalities.”
In their letter to Milgram, the GOP lawmakers request information on the DEA’s prevention efforts to protect seniors from synthetic drugs, particularly fentanyl.
“The nation’s drug crisis is increasingly a synthetics crisis from which older Americans are not immune,” they wrote.
They noted that elderly Americans could benefit from the DEA’s existing “tailored prevention messages,” such as the “One Pill Can Kill” campaign, which directs teenagers, parents, and other groups to resources.
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Besides the finding Braun reported in December, the senators cite CDC data that show fatal overdoses among older Americans has jumped 53% in recent years.
“Prevention for older populations often reflects understandable concerns about prescription medication, overprescription, risky drug interactions, and alcohol misuse, and it is important for public officials and their partners to continue highlighting these risks,” the letter states.
“The impact of fentanyl on older age groups, including the risks of adulterated medication, often receives less attention in prevention messaging despite the reality that distinct factors make older Americans vulnerable to synthetics.”
The lawmakers argue that older Americans become susceptible to an overdose because of longer-term, stable usage of prescription drugs that are increasingly “infected” by synthetic substances.
“Older Americans may develop higher tolerance to pain medication they take and search for more powerful drugs,” the GOP lawmakers noted. “Some seniors also seek prescriptions from illicit markets because policy or medical professionals limit their access to necessary pain medication, and some try to find lower costs.”
Yet, the lawmakers added, “Synthetics like fentanyl can be deadly for these older Americans even if they have no history of prior substance use.”
The letter points out that the DEA seized record numbers of fentanyl pills in 2023 and that 70% of pills seized by drug warriors contain a lethal dose of fentanyl.
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“Pills laced with synthetics can poison older Americans, and they should be informed of the dangers: that the supply of deadly synthetics is skyrocketing, that these drugs kill quickly even in small amounts, and that they are easily concealed as other commonly used pills,” the senators warned.
Accordingly, they ask Milgram to share with them information about the prevalence of synthetics like fentanyl among older Americans, as well as whether the agency is engaging community partners, healthcare professionals, law enforcement, and others on the risks of synthetics.
They also want the administrator to tell them if the DEA has policy suggestions to improve seniors’ understanding of synthetic risks, and whether the DEA plans to update the “One Pill Can Kill” campaign to broaden its scope to include older Americans.
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